Abstract:
Chazzonos, as presented here for my thesis, represents three chapters
of what will be a novel of the same name. Chazzonos is about Hal
Perlmutter, a cantor, who at the outset of the novel, is resigning his position
of twenty years. The novel progresses as Hal decides where he will go after
Mirthgate Temple and what will be meaningful to him. Hal's decision is
complicated by the opposing forces that run through him: the conservative
side that is attracted to ritual, tradition, and, especially, the music of the
ancient and respectable art of the cantor; and the liberal, neo-60s, almost
anarchic nature of his personal life.
In these three chapters, the dilemmas of Hal's life are introduced. He
deals with the implications of an inheritance that has allowed him to resign;
he struggles with the mystery of a relationship that is developing between
his homosexual son and a new lover; and he is challenged by his long-time
girlfriend to make the ultimate commitment of marriage. Throughout the
narrative, Hal is affected by his attachment to the music of chazzonos (the
cantorial art) and by memories of family and tradition, nostalgic as well as
painful.
The questions these three chapters introduce and that will develop
as the entire novel progresses are those of love, tradition, obligation, and
how one struggles with opposing forces in one's nature.
